Surprised in Church
by MaxRideNut
Summary: When Maddie Fenton decides on a wim to go to church early one morning, she'll find all manners of surprises waiting... Rated T just in case
1. Bored

**Author's Note: Yes, it's very short. But it's just meant to set the scene, so I'm not really concernd about the size. Will update (hopefully) soon.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything in this chapter...unless you count the sleep schedule. So yeah, everything else belongs to Nick.**

What do you do when you can't sleep at 3:30 in the morning? Some people wander around the house, others just stay in bed and feel utterly bored. But Madeline Fenton had a fair case of insomnia, so she almost always fell asleep late, before waking too early. So she had developed a schedule: go to bed at ten; about an hour after waking up around 2 o'clock, she'd get up an have breakfast; go on ghost patrol or just take a walk until about 4:15; then go back to bed and sleep 'til 8:30. But today, her schedule had been completely disrupted. It was early Sunday morning, (almost six o'clock) and she hadn't slept at all. When the neighbors' radio alarm started playing the local Christian station, she randomly decided to visit church.

Normally she wouldn't go to church at all (she was usually down in the lab with Jack) but she had run out of things to do hours ago, and almost no ghosts had shown up in the past two days. But it was usually open 24/7, so…Here goes nothing.

When she arrived at the large, fairly old-fashioned cathedral, she noticed that she was not alone. Sitting at one of the forward benches, a silver haired youth sat with his head resting on the seat in front of him. Maddie strode briskly toward him with a mind to drag the dark being from the church with her bare hands. To her surprise, he stood up just before she grabbed his shoulder. He nodded politely to her and dipped to the large cross at the head of the room, and then walked through the side wall.

Wondering where the wretched creature was going, the woman slipped out a nearby door and silently followed the ghost.


	2. Wasn't Her Fault

**Author's Note: ...Hm. Nothing that I can think of to write here... Read it, please!**

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Phantom wandered past the Nasty Burger without giving the building so much as a glance. Maddie watched as he turned on the next street, making his way to the park. She crept behind him, being sure not to make a sound. Once he entered the wrought iron gates, he picked up his pace. Somewhere in the center he slowed until he was barely moving. He carefully approached the giant oak that Danny used to spend so much time in when he was a young boy. Maddie ducked into a group of shrubbery a few yards from the tree to survey his actions.

Someone was sitting in one of the thick lower branches. Samantha Manson's legs swung slightly as Phantom levitated to sit next to her. She didn't look up. The ghost child spoke.

"It wasn't your fault you know," he said quietly. Maddie almost didn't hear it. The Goth girl sighed as she turned to him.

"No matter how much you forgive me, it doesn't make the guilt go away." _What?_

"Sam, I would have gone in there if you hadn't suggested it. You just brought my own thoughts to sound. It was my choice and I have no one to blame but myself," he answered without hesitation. The ghost hunter observed in confusion. _Gone in where? What was his fault?_

"Oh come one, Danny!" _That's strange. If I couldn't see Phantom myself, it would be almost as if she were talking to my son. _"You can't deny that I was the one who dared you to disobey your parents and do something so dangerous! You would have talked yourself out of it if I hadn't been there!" The girl turned away, trying to hide the tears that were making her dark eye-shadow run. But Phantom didn't miss it.

"And you can't deny all the times you kept me from losing myself after it happened. Sam, you're my best friend, and I won't let you keep tearing yourself up about this! If it weren't for that accident, Plasmius would have killed my dad by now, and I wouldn't be the protector of Amity Park, either. Yes, I'm a ghost, but think of how much good has come out of it!"

The boy touched the girl's cheek and gently turned her to face him. They looked into each other's eyes as he continued, "Come on, Sammy, you are the strongest person I know, and I've never seen you cry! Why start now? It's not that bad."

Maddie's eyebrows furrowed as she watched Sam smile slightly. "You just called me Sammy." _What does that have to with…Oh._ She held back a giggle as Phantom put on a face of mock fear. Both ghost and ghost hunter knew that the girl hated being called anything but Sam. That included Samantha, Sammy, Little Girl, and Girlie. Anyone who did not call her Sam usually ended up very hurt.

"Remind me to avoid you in school tomorrow," he said very seriously, before both teens started laughing. When they stopped for a breath, he asked, "So we're cool now, right?"

Sam, nodded. She jumped out of the tree and jogged home. The ghost shook his head with amusement before dropping to the ground and walking away.

Madeline Fenton tried to straighten up to follow him, but her knees and muscles all seemed very tired. She had been crouching in that bush for much longer than she had thought. Phantom was probably just headed back to the Ghost Zone anyway.

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The last thought that drifted through her drowsy mind before she succumbed to the call of sleep: _Phantom goes to school with Sam?_

**Likey? I have a third chapter planned, but does anyone think it would be better to end here? Please review!**

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	3. Annoying Alarm Clock

**Yes, it's short, but I plan on having chapter 4 up in an hour or so. Don't own DP, how sad for me.**

BBBRRRIIIIINNNGG! Maddie groaned and rolled over. She had forgotten to turn off her alarm clock when she finally got to bed at around six-thirty a.m. that morning. Oh well, might as well get up. Once she was awake, she likely wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. The ghost hunter sighed and stretched, before heading to her closet. She almost pulled out one of her many blue HazMat suits, but on a second thought, she went to her rarely-opened clothes trunk, from which she took a simple Sunday dress. What the hey; she could make it to the 10 o'clock service.

She carried her clothes and a towel to the master bathroom and showered in the dark. The massaging force of hot water hitting her back was almost as relaxing as an extra half hour of sleep. She washed and got dried and dressed, brushed her short, amber hair, and strode to the kitchen to have breakfast. Two pancakes and a glass of milk later, she was out the door.


	4. Undo

**Here we go, chapter 4. This pretty much explains what DP was doing in church, and it... Well, actually, read it and find out!**

**Sadly, I don't own Danny Phantom OR the song "Undo". I don't know who owns the song, but I know I didn't write it, soooo... READ AND REVIEW, PWEASE!**

Maddie's blue flowered dress swayed as she entered the sanctuary. To her surprise, the large room was empty. Well, almost empty—Phantom was seated at the very front, just as he had been earlier. She considered approaching the specter, but decided against it. She would see what he did.

_Wait a minute… What is that sound? _It was like a humming noise, but it wasn't a long drone. More like _dim, dum, dim, dmm…_ It was guitar strumming! _Danny Phantom plays a guitar?_ But she didn't have time to ponder over it, because he started singing:

"I've been here before, now here I am again;  
Standing at the door, praying You'll let me back in."

Maddie blinked.

"To label me a prodigal would be  
Only scratching the surface of who I've been known to be.

Turn me around! Pick me up!  
Undo what I've become!  
Bring me back to the place  
Of forgiveness and grace!  
I need You, I need Your help!  
I can't do this myself!  
You're the only one

Who can undo

What I've become!"

The ghost hunter swallowed; she could hear a thousand emotions in those words—emotions she had never believed a ghost could feel. _Who am I to judge? Who am I to decide who is to be condemned?_ She closed her eyes as she began to sing, her heart telling her the words:

"I focused on the score, but I could never win;  
Trying to ignore, a life of hiding my sin"

A short break in the guitar told her that Phantom was surprised to hear her, but had quickly repeated playing. She opened her eyes to meet his curious stare, but continued.

"To label me a hypocrite would be  
Only scratching the surface of who I've been known to be."

The ghost child blinked. Maddie turned to gaze at crucifix at the front wall.

"Turn me around! Pick me up!  
Undo what I've become!  
Bring me back to the place  
Of forgiveness and grace!  
I need You, I need Your help!  
I can't do this myself!  
You're the only one

Who can undo

What I've become!"

Now they both closed their eyes, and sang together:

"Make every step lead me back to  
The sovereign way that You

Turn me around! Pick me up!  
Undo what I've become!  
Bring me back to the place  
Of forgiveness and grace!  
I need You, I need Your help!  
I can't do this myself!  
You're the only one

Who can undo

What I've become!"

The words hung in the air and there was a comfortable silence between them. They were both reflecting on their feelings, and on this new understanding with each other.

But that silence was broken by the sound of an ecto-gun charging.

**OOOH! CLIFFIE! Review, please! Like it?**

**Um, for the extra spaces in the chorus, I have no idea how that happened...**


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